Birthday Tribute - Jerry Codinera ( Nov 14 )

When Ramon Fernandez first con- ducted practice sessions for the newly formed Purefoods ballclub, he was quick to figure out the roles he would give rookies Jojo Lastimosa and Glen Capacio. But as to the specific task he would assign his third freshman Jerry Codinera, he was still undecided. In fact, he was quoted as saying, "I haven't seen much of Codinera lately." Perhaps, that was an understatement. Perhaps, he already knew how important Codinera would be to his team so he was downplaying that role in an effort to mislead the other teams.

As it turned out, after the open confer ence first round action, Codinera turned out to be the brightest star from the amateur ranks this year. In fact, he led everybody in the battle of the boards coming down with 11.7 caroms a game beating San Miguel's Alberto Guidaben who had 10.6 and For- nandez himself who was good for only 9.7 rpg.

He also made waves with his intensity on the hardcourt which resulted in a one-game suspension after throwing a punch at Chito Loyzaga during the first Ginebra-Purefoods encounter last April 5. Well, even as early as several years back, critics were already saying that Codinera would be the "next Fernandez" based on his performance with the Philippine team which he was part of for the past five years. Experts said that at Codinera's age, Fernandez was not as good. This being so,

Codinera has the potential to become better than his coach. "I'm proud to be called the next Mon Fernandez. Even coach does not mind that. In fact, he has been giving me a lot of tips on how to polish my moves. He also corrects my mistakes. Fernandez is a good coach. Imagine, it's only his first tournament and he's already adjusted to his role. I've really benefitted from my stint under him. He teaches me movements inside the shaded area. Talagang puro pang-center ang itinuturo niya."